Pichon Comtesse de Lalande

Vinous

100 / 100

byAntonio Gallonithe10/20/2017

Another dazzling wine, the 1982 Pichon Lalande is utterly profound from the very first taste. In the glass, the 1982 is powerful and explosive, with seemingly endless layers of flavor that continue to unfurl over time. Vivid, intensely aromatic and seamless, the 1982 has enough pedigree and depth to drink well for at least several decades. What a wine!

Decanter.com

100 / 100

byJane Ansonthe10/12/2016

Tasting blind, I guessed this was the Latour.
Just an incredible, stunning wine that hit me right from the very first moment and held its grip with the most confident of touches.
Very much holding its colour and integrity of its fruit, even at this ripe old age. Such intensity on the nose, with blueberry, blackcurrant and spicy mint, this is knock-your-socks-off great.
The tannins are among the firmest of the line-up, suggesting many years ahead of it still. You feel the walls of this wine, the flesh of the grapes, the smile of its fruit.
Alc 12.5%

Wine Advocate

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byNeal Martinthe7/29/2016

Skip forward a couple of decades to the legendary 1982 Pichon-Lalande. I first tasted this wine in Bordeaux around 1998/1999 at a private dinner with May-Elaine Lencquesaings and it blew me away. Perfect wine? No problem with that. I've tasted it many times thereafter including on three occasions in 2016. This note actually derives from a family relative, the bottle kept in perfect conditions. To be honest, I find that it has just stepped down from that "perfect" pedestal in recent years...just one step, mind you. Do not mistake me - I still regard it as one of the greatest vintages from Pichon-Lalande, unequivocally a benchmark for the estate. However, these days I do not rank it alongside the magisterial 1982 Latour, which I would not hesitate to bestow a perfect score. Perhaps after 34 years, the First Growths stamp their superiority over the others? I will reiterate that the 1982 Pichon-Lalande is a brilliant wine and it has many more years of drinking pleasure to bestow lucky oenophiles. Maybe a large format would replicate some of those astounding examples at the end of the 1990s? But in bottle format, I suggest that it must look over its shoulder to glimpse its snow-capped peak.

Wine Advocate

98 / 100

byNeal Martinthe2/29/2016

Whilst I enjoyed several bona fide perfect examples of the 1982 Château Pichon Lalande in the late nineties, my most recent encounters imply that these years were its peak. Nevertheless, it remains a brilliant, benchmark wine that continues to give a great deal of pleasure. This bottle, of perfect provenance, was captivating on the nose - still youthful and jam-packed with very pure and intense black and red fruit, mixed with cedar and graphite notes that ebb away as the Merlot component takes over and delivers strawberry and undergrowth scents. The palate retains its exquisite balance thanks to its fine tannin and layers of black, graphite-infused fruit that ease you into its sumptuous finish. It is a long-term wine, so do not be surprised if it continues along its plateau for another 20 years. Why is it not 100 points in my book? Well, compared to the 1982 Latour, it does not possess that same level of precision or length. Yet the bottom line is that both wines represent fabulous, era-defining contributions to this legendary vintage, and both continue to offer profound expression of Pauillac at its peak. Tasted February 2016.

Wine Advocate

100 / 100

byRobert Parkerthe6/30/2000

I have had this wine a half-dozen times over the last eleven months, and have rated it either 98, 99, or 100 on every occasion. It is a fully mature, sumptuous, gloriously perfumed, luxuriously rich Pauillac the likes of which are rarely encountered. The color is a dark plum/ruby with amber at the edge. Spectacular aromatics offer up cedar, smoke, jammy black and red fruits, minerals, licorice, and toast. Unctuously-textured and full-bodied, with low acidity, fabulously sweet, rich fruit, surprising definition for a wine of such lushness and intensity, this is one of the vintage's most compelling and profound efforts. It has been delicious since birth, but absolutely stupendous over the last decade. How much longer can it hold onto its magic? My guess is that it should be consumed over the next 5-7 years.

Wine Spectator

95 / 100

byJames Sucklingthe11/30/1998

A voluptuous red. Very dark ruby-garnet. Aromas of currant, meat and berries. Full-bodied and velvety, with lovely ripe berry and earth and a long, ripe finish of caressing texture. This has always been a great wine. I marvel at it each time I taste it.--1982 Bordeaux horizontal. Drink now.

La Revue du Vin de France

/ 100

the5/1/1996

Its deep coulour showing a touch of mahogany, its marvellous aromas of mocha, leather and Havana tobacco and its unique charm, finesse and aromatic are worthy of a first growth. For those amateurs of tactile sensation it is perfect.

Wine Advocate

99 / 100

byRobert Parkerthe12/31/1995

This has been the most sumptuous, delicious, and profound 1982 to drink over the last 5-6 years. It has never gone through any kind of dormant stage, and it continues to be the odds on favorite to emerge first in any blind tasting of the top 1982s. It reveals a classic Pauillac aromatic profile of sweet blackcurrant fruit intermingled with scents of herbs, cedar, and toast. However, on the palate it performs more like a great Pomerol. Given its unctuous texture, and lavish quantities of fruit, glycerin, and alcohol, this is a thick, supple, velvety-textured, gloriously decadent and hedonistic Pichon-Lalande that should continue to drink well for another 10-12 years. If readers need just one wine with which to impress someone, close a deal, or just experience the pleasures of wine, make it the 1982 Pichon-Lalande. Tasted 27 times since bottling with consistent notes.

Wine Advocate

99-100 / 100

byRobert Parkerthe10/31/1994

I have drunk the 1982 Pichon-Lalande as often as any 1982 Bordeaux. With over two dozen tasting notes since its bottling, it is amazing that my scores have always been in the upper nineties. In short, Pichon-Lalande (or any Pauillac) could not be much better than this full-bodied, unctuous, super-complex, concentrated wine. From its explosive bouquet of cedar, blackcurrants, herbs, and spices, to its layer upon layer of rich fruit that coats the mouth, this is an awesome bottle of wine. It has been sensational since it was bottled. Will it ever close up or begin to lose some fruit? There is some lightening at the edge (something that is not apparent in other 1982 Pauillacs), but keep in mind that this is the only Pauillac with significant quantities (about 40%) of Merlot, which accounts for the faint amber edge. This wine should continue to drink well for at least 10-15 more years. Although astronomically expensive and virtually impossible to find, this is what great Bordeaux is all about! The $110 a case future price sure looks great today!

Wine Advocate

99-100 / 100

byRobert Parkerthe12/31/1992

This is unquestionably the finest Pichon Lalande I have ever tasted. It is one of only a handful of big 1982s from the Medoc that has not begun to shut down. The wine reveals the deepest color of any Pichon in the eighties. The only exception is the 1986. There is no amber at the edge. The phenomenal bouquet soars from the glass, offering aromas of minerals, sweet, jammy blackcurrant fruit, toasty new oak, coffee, and chocolate. In the mouth, there is an opulence and richness that must be tasted to be believed. With layer upon layer of velvety textured, rich fruit, and a finish which lasts for well over a minute, this magical Pichon Lalande should continue to offer fabulous drinking for at least 10-15 more years.